GREENVILLE, S.C.
(April 25, 2007) – The
Parents Television Council™
today called on General Electric,
NBC’s parent company, to stop
producing, promoting and
broadcasting programs that contain
some of the most graphic violence,
excessive sexual content and foul
language on television. The remarks
were presented at GE’s annual
shareholder meeting today by Dan
Isett, PTC’s Director of Corporate
and Government Affairs.

Although Mr. Isett was authorized to
attend the meeting and was within
the time allotted for attendees to
speak, his statement was interrupted
and his opportunity to conclude his
remarks was precluded. Additionally,
it appears that GE ceased its live
webcast of the meeting at the
conclusion of prepared remarks by
its Chairman, Jeff Immelt, thus
preventing its shareholders around
the globe from hearing any negative
comments raised during the meeting.
The following are excerpts from Mr.
Isett’s statement:

“NBC understands the powerful
responsibility it shoulders for
airing inappropriate material, as
evidenced by its recent dismissal of
Don Imus from MSNBC for his sexist
and racist comments on the air.
So
clearly you can do the right thing,
if and when you want to.
I
am here today to urge you to do the
right thing more often.

“Violence on television continues
unabated despite the overwhelming
scientific evidence pointing to a
direct and causal relationship
between violent entertainment
products and aggressive behavior in
children. And according to the
recent violence study from the PTC,
56% of all violence on prime time
network television during the
2005-2006 season was
person-on-person violence. Sadly,
NBC experienced the biggest increase
in violent content – 635% - during
the 10:00 pm hour, from 2 instances
of violence per hour in 1998 to
nearly 15 instances of violence per
hour in 2005 – 2006.

“But violent content is not the only
area in which NBC has clearly failed
to abide by any standard of decency.
NBC
programming glamorizes sexual
behavior without consequences.
And
profanity is rampant. A skit from a
December episode of Saturday
Night Live featured a song
parody highlighting 16 bleeped uses
of a vulgar slang term for penis.
We certainly appreciate the bleeping
of that word, but NBC made an
unedited version of that skit
available on its own website,
NBC.com, and the unedited version
appears to this day on YouTube.
While
there is certainly more explicit
material on the internet, why would
NBC go through the trouble of
editing this material for broadcast
in an unregulated time slot only to
turn around and do an ‘end run’ on
parents by making this offensive
material available to a much larger
audience of children on its own
website?

“As you know, each year, every
employee of GE – including NBC – is
required to sign an integrity policy
as a condition of employment,
including a promise that he or she
will abide by both the spirit and
the letter of the law. Does this
not include a commitment to abide by
both the spirit and the letter of
the broadcast decency law?
I
ask this question not rhetorically.
At
this very moment, NBC is party to a
lawsuit in federal court demanding
the right to air the F-word in front
of children watching broadcast
television.
Ironically,
if an NBC employee were to use the
type of language from that SNL skit
in their work environment, he or she
would be reprimanded or possibly
even terminated; yet NBC insists on
pumping this material into virtually
every living room in the country on
a nightly basis.
And
NBC is forcing the burden of
blocking it onto parents.

“Does GE mean what it says in its
integrity policy about both the
spirit and the letter, or is the
policy merely window dressing? NBC
can do better. Indeed, according to
GE’s own policy, NBC must do better.

“Chairman Immelt, GE can and should
deliver the scale of a great company
to solve big needs around the world
and can act as a good citizen by
making sure that its impact
transcends the bottom line. Those
words should sound familiar to you
as they are the GE corporate policy
on community. Please, now more than
ever, NBC needs your help; the proud
history of NBC demands no less.”

Mr. Isett’s opportunity to speak was
terminated by Mr. Immelt at this
point.

The Parents Television Council™ (www.parentstv.org®)
is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment.
It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence
and profanity on television and in other media. This national
grassroots organization has more than 1.3 million members across the
United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters,
networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and
negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with
elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast
decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical
research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex,
violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is
provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices
for their own families.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.